Business fluctuations and cycles

• Common Trends and Common Cycles in Canadian Sectoral Output

  Staff Working Paper 2003-44 Francisco Barillas, Christoph Schleicher

  The authors examine evidence of long- and short-run co-movement in Canadian sectoral output data. Their framework builds on a vector-error-correction representation that allows them to test for and compute full-information maximum-likelihood estimates of models with codependent cycle restrictions.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C15, C2, C22, C3, C32, E, E3, E32

• Why Does Private Consumption Rise After a Government Spending Shock?

  Staff Working Paper 2003-43 Hafedh Bouakez, Nooman Rebei

  Recent empirical evidence suggests that private consumption is crowded-in by government spending. This outcome violates existing macroeconomic theory, according to which the negative wealth effect brought about by a rise in public expenditure should decrease consumption.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E62

• Poignée de main invisible et persistance des cycles économiques : une revue de la littérature

  Staff Working Paper 2003-40 Christian Calmès

  The author explains how self-enforcing labour contracts can enhance the performance of macroeconomic models. He exposes the benefits of using these dynamic contracts to account for some puzzling macroeconomic facts regarding the dynamics and persistence of employment, consumption and output.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models JEL Code(s): E, E1, E12, E4, E49, J, J3, J30, J31, J4, J41

• Governance and Financial Fragility: Evidence from a Cross-Section of Countries

  Staff Working Paper 2003-34 Michael Francis

  The author explores the role of governance mechanisms as a means of reducing financial fragility. First, he develops a simple theoretical general-equilibrium model in which instability arises due to an agency problem resulting from a conflict of interest between the borrower and lender.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G0

• Nominal Rigidities and Exchange Rate Pass-Through in a Structural Model of a Small Open Economy

  Staff Working Paper 2003-29 Steve Ambler, Ali Dib, Nooman Rebei

  The authors analyze exchange rate pass-through in an estimated structural model of a small open economy that incorporates three types of nominal rigidity (wages and the prices of domestically produced and imported goods) and eight different structural shocks. The model is estimated using quarterly data from Canada and the United States.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, Exchange rates, Inflation and prices, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F2, F3, F31, F33

• Monetary Policy in Estimated Models of Small Open and Closed Economies

  Staff Working Paper 2003-27 Ali Dib

  The author develops and estimates a quantitative dynamic-optimizing model of a small open economy (SOE) with domestic and import price stickiness and capital-adjustment costs. A monetary policy rule allows the central bank to systematically manage the short-term nominal interest rate in response to deviations of inflation, output, and money growth from their steadystate levels.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Exchange rates, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, F, F2, F3
• May 22, 2003

  Inflation Targeting and Medium-Term Planning: Some Simple Rules of Thumb

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2003 David Longworth

  Inflation targeting, a stable macroeconomic environment, and an average growth rate for potential output that is not expected to vary much in the next several years all help households, businesses, and governments in their medium-term economic and financial planning. Several simple rules of thumb can be usefully employed in this planning. Specifically, inflation targeting has maintained most major measures of inflation quite close to the target midpoint on average over a number of years. Combined with a clear fiscal framework, this has contributed to a more stable macroeconomic environment in which output varies less around its potential level. Potential output growth is expected to average around 3 per cent over the next several years. In light of these factors and historical relationships, labour income, profits, and consumer spending will likely grow, on average, by about 5 per cent over the medium term. Real and nominal long-term interest rates should also continue to be stable, with real 30-year yields varying around 3.5 or 4.0 per cent, and nominal yields varying around 5.5 or 6.0 per cent.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Inflation targets, Inflation: costs and benefits

• Un modèle « PAC » d'analyse et de prévision des dépenses des ménages américains

  Staff Working Paper 2003-13 Marc-André Gosselin, René Lalonde

  Traditional structural models cannot distinguish whether changes in activity are a function of altered expectations today or lagged responses to past plans. Polynomial-adjustment-cost (PAC) models remove this ambiguity by explicitly separating observed dynamic behaviour into movements that have been induced by changes in expectations, and responses to expectations, that have been delayed because of adjustment costs.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods, Economic models JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, E, E2, E21, E3, E32

• The Macroeconomic Effects of Military Buildups in a New Neoclassical Synthesis Framework

  Staff Working Paper 2003-12 Alain Paquet, Louis Phaneuf, Nooman Rebei

  The authors study the macroeconomic consequences of large military buildups using a New Neoclassical Synthesis (NNS) approach that combines nominal rigidities within imperfectly competitive goods and labour markets. They show that the predictions of the NNS framework generally are consistent with the sign, timing, and magnitude of how hours worked, after-tax real wages, and output actually respond to an upsurge in military purchases.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E62, H, H2

• Comparing Alternative Output-Gap Estimators: A Monte Carlo Approach

  Staff Working Paper 2003-8 Andrew Rennison

  The author evaluates the ability of a variety of output-gap estimators to accurately measure the output gap in a model economy. A small estimated model of the Canadian economy is used to generate artificial data.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods, Potential output JEL Code(s): C, C1, C15, E, E3, E32